Quay Co-op, Cork - Vegan Pet Food ?

Serendipity99

Hi,
Ye're all very quiet! No reply to my 'Vegan's in Cork' post yet??

Another question for the Corkonians among you:

Does anyone know if the Quay Co-op sells Vegan Dog or Cat food, and if so do ye know what brands?

Thanks!

sweet-rasmus

I don't think I've ever come across vegetarian or vegan branded pet food on sale in a shop in Ireland. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has.

I'm in Dublin myself, so no help to you on your quest

NecroSteve

Vegan and all as I am, I have to say that you can't expect dogs or cats, ESPECIALLY not cats, to do well without eating animal flesh. They're biologically carnivores, their bodies are optimally evolved towards gaining nutrition from dead bodies. Anyone who says that their dog/cat does fine without meat is either lying, or is unfamiliar with the concept of meso-health, i.e. an animal can do OK for years on a bad diet before their health collapses utterly.

Serendipity99

I'm inclined to agree with you after researching this a bit on the web.
I only have dogs myself (no cats, yet).
There is certainly an issue with cats on these diets and I am surprised that these foods don't come with a warning.

Anyone else out there have opinions or information on the whole issue of vegan pet foods? I'm doing a bit of research on this for a project I'm involved in.

Would appreciate it... Thanks!

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Anatomy_and_Physiology_of_Animals/The_Gut_and_Digestion#Carnivores

Cats and dogs are carnivores. Plants aren't just unhealthy for them in terms of the proportions of nutrients they're getting. Behaviourally, they're evolved to treat food quite differently, from the time they spend eating to how long they chew. Anatomically, their teeth, stomach and intestines (particularly the caecum and colon) are very different.


For example, cows eat grass, but they spend all day doing it and look like this:


I might be biased as I only stumbled on this thread and am not actually vegetarian or vegan, but as far as I know from my friends who are vegan and what I know of the human body, we are able to happily survive on a vegan lifestyle. But that lifestyle takes planning and care. We have bodies designed to handle vegan foods no problem. For us, being vegan isn't a case of eating stuff we're not used to, it's just a case of cutting out some foods we're also used to. As omnivores we have that choice. However for carnivores, vegan foods aren't something their bodies can handle. It's both cutting out what they're used to and introducing food they have little to no ability to digest/absorb/survive on. They don't have the same dietary choice as us, and even if they could eat vegan foods, is it fair to assume they want to live that lifestyle?

Tarini

I am a vegetarian and I put both of my dogs on a vegetarian diet, after almost a year and a half on this diet, one of my dogs became anemic and developed heart disease (which maybe genetic) but now I've put both dogs back on a vet recommended diet as both breeds are prone to heart disease.

If you do wish to give your dog vegetarian food, please check out www.veggiepets.com

Serendipity99

I hope your dog is doing ok.
Some breeds are prone to certain illnesses, and its difficult to know what caused these problems - the food or something else.

Thanks for your reply anyway. I appreciate any comments I receive on this issue. Best of luck.

Tarini

Well they are toy breed, so this is a contributing factor, maybe if I had been giving him Floradix with his food?? PETA also have sites on the net for vegetarian dog diet that is worth looking up...

http://www.peta.org/living/companion-animals/vegetarian-cats-and-dogs.aspx

and this one is also inspiring

http://www.vegetariandogs.com/

At least my dogs had almost two years of meat free diet Pity one got ill.....

SomeFool

Why don't you put out a bowl of veggie pet food and a bowl of regular pet food at feeding time and let the animal decide which it would like?

Jim

Please don't force a veggie or vegan diet on your pets. It's incredibly unhealthy for them and, imo, cruel.

Instead you should try and source your meat for them and try and ensure they are being fed meat from animals who were treated well and killed humanly.

Worztron

true-or-false wrote: »

Cats and dogs are carnivores.

Cats are certainly true carnivores. However dogs are not, they are omnivores.

Tar.Aldarion

Dogs can be fine on a veggie diet, however cats need taurine etc, they could go blind or worse on a veggie diet.

Worztron

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Dogs can be fine on a veggie diet, however cats need taurine etc, they could go blind or worse on a veggie diet.

Yes. Taurine is essential for the kittys. Are you sure though that dogs can live without meat?

Tar.Aldarion

I suppose you could give cats redbull and then they could be veggie :P

Dogs can be veggie or vegan, I remember the story of some dog called bramble who was 27 at the time, being a contender for the oldest dog ever (29) and bramble was a vegan dog. Wonder how long s/he survived!

Owen

If you're looking for impartial advice on what to feed your dog/cat - 4 Paws and a Tail on the Ballinlough road next to JJ O'Driscolls are your best bet. They're a lot cheaper than the likes of Maxizoo/Zooplus, and specialise in Holistic foods, etc. Open 7 days too.

Worztron

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

I remember the story of some dog called bramble who was 27 at the time, being a contender for the oldest dog ever (29) and bramble was a vegan dog. Wonder how long s/he survived!

... and the man that coined the term 'vegan' lived to 95. I guess the proof is in the pudding {no pun intended:)}.

Serendipity99

I'll check them out, cheers!

Also, if anyone knows of any pet shop that sells veggie/vegan dog or cat food - anywhere in Ireland - please let me know, either by PM or a post.
I'm trying to compile a list of pet shops in Ireland that stock these.

Thanks people!

Worztron

Serendipity99 wrote: »

Also, if anyone knows of any pet shop that sells veggie/vegan dog or cat food

A cat needs meat. Otherwise the poor kitty will have serious health problems.